West Suffolk Hospital ready for the winter

8 December 1999

The West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust is ready for the anticipated boom in demand for services this winter and has plans in place for dealing with the millennium date change or so-called 'millennium bug'.

Planning for winter 1999/2000, which also covers the millennium holiday, has been underway since early last year. Every computer, piece of medical equipment and all the engineering systems have been thoroughly checked and those that could not cope with the date change have either been replaced or upgraded.

Over 100 members of staff across the Trust have been trained as Year 2000 representatives. They have helped to identify potential areas of risk and develop effective contingency plans which will ensure the hospital can continue to function and provide patients with high quality care in a safe and secure environment.

This years' planning also has to cope with the extra workload created by the combination of the extended period of the millennium celebration and normal winter pressures. This will be the longest public holiday ever with only two normal working days between Christmas Eve and 3 January.

"Working closely with Suffolk Health, Local Health Partnerships NHS Trust and Suffolk Social Services we have drawn up a comprehensive plan to cope with the anticipated increase in emergency admissions and the predicted 1.5 times increase in casualties over the millennium celebrations," said Gerald Pawsey General Manager Medical Services, who has been co-ordinating the Trust's Winter Plan.

"Building on previous year's experience many of the special measures introduced last year are in place again with extra staff and enhanced services available during the holiday period.

Measures taken by the trust include:

• a 15 bedded Emergency Admissions Unit (EAU) has opened in its new permanent position on ward F2. Over the holiday period the number of beds can be increased to 19.

• the Rapid Response Team is now a permanent feature in the hospital and will continue to make sure patients' stay in hospital is not unnecessarily prolonged.

• increased staffing levels particularly to cover the extended bank holiday and New Year period

• additional beds including extra critical care beds.

• routine operations will be scaled down to free up resources for emergency admissions

• delivery of a purpose built mobile mortuary to be discreetly parked at the rear of the site alongside the hospital mortuary

• a standby generator is in place which will switch on automatically should there be a mains electricity failure over the millennium.

"People in west Suffolk can feel confident that robust plans are in place to deal with the millennium bug and that we are doing everything possible to ensure we are fully prepared for the anticipated increase in activity over the extended holiday period. The public also have a part to play and should think carefully before using the emergency services." said Johanna Finn the Trust's Chief Executive.